Garsons are Proud to Support Wicor School

As part of our committment to our local communities, Garsons has formed a wonderful partnership with Wicor School, which is local to Garsons Titchfield.  Louise from the school explains how our support has helped the school and their gardens:

Garson's has generously donated many resources over the last 12 years that have helped our school gardens grow from strength to strength!

We were given a huge box of seeds for our learning back in the winter of 2024 which we put in to use as soon as we could.

Cue an idea! A tired mint bed in front of the polytunnels and long borders had been underperforming for some time, with the soil depleted and the battle of the weeds officially on. The magic box of seed started to sow dreams of growing even more produce than ever before but in a different scheme of planting. The children love growing in the allotments and understand the community aspect of bringing people together in a shared rustic endeavour.

With the natural world featuring throughout our curriculum, it seemed a great idea to think how kitchen gardens had been used historically and to work on planting a more formal vegetable garden with rows and an attempt at more order.

Our first mission was to tackle the vast army of docks and other equally stoic weeds; a very muddy job in our heavy clay soil, requiring repeat weeding over the winter months. Then came the essential conditioning of the soil by adding lots of our lovely compost and putting valuable nutrients back in.

Pupils and volunteers sowed successional seeds for weeks and months from February both in trays in the greenhouse ready for planting out later and direct sowing, as the weather warmed. We were delighted at the sheer abundance of produce, far outweighing any amount we could sell in The Trug, our little community shop.

A local restaurant, The ABar, part of The Coastal Kitchen Family agreed to buy produce from Wicor weekly for their seasonal menu highlighting their sustainability values and their desire for high-quality organic ingredients. The children were proud to know their produce would be cooked by professionals and sold to the public.

We were pleased to share this news on BBC South Today when head chef, Adam Maker, a former pupil visited to collect the harvest. Growing at school can open the door to much inspiration.

Carrot-top pesto

• leafy tops from 1 bunch of carrots (chopped)

• small handful basil leaves

• 50g sunflower seeds

• 25g Parmesan cheese

• 1 garlic clove

• approx. 100ml or so olive oil

Method

Prep time: 10 min

• In a food processor, blitz the carrot tops, basil, parmesan, and garlic.